Happy Birthday Marie Laveau

The actual date of Marie Laveau’s birth has been up for dispute for many years. But, a baptismal certificate found in an unpublished book in the archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans seems to have the answer.

There are few figures in New Orleans history that are shrouded in more mystery and misinformation that Marie Laveau. Even to this day, Laveau is a controversial figure with often conflicting information surrounding her birth, life, and death.

Some of the confusion comes from an obituary that stated she was 98 years old when she died in 1881, and this was long accepted as fact. However, a baptismal certificate found in an untranslated and unpublished book in the archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans by an LSU researcher has Marie Laveau born as a “free mulatto girl child” on September 10, 1801.

The document confirms that a six-day old Marie Laveau was baptized by Pere Antoine (Pere Antonio de Sedella) on September 16, 1801. Her mother, Marguerite d’Arcantel, was a freed mullato slave. Her father, Charles Laveau, was a free man of color who had become wealthy as a real estate speculator, money lender, and slave trader.

She grew up in her grandmother’s modest cottage on St Ann in Faubourg Treme. We all know that Marie would go on to become the city’s most well-known practitioner of Voodoo. Yet, she also maintained a close relationship with Pere Antoine who presided over Marie’s marriage to Jacques Paris, a free man of color of French and African descent.

Despite, or perhaps due to, the mystery surrounding Marie Laveau, she remains one of the most asked-about figures in New Orleans history. She continues to be surrounded by legend and lore.

To learn more about Marie Laveau, join Royal Tours New Orleans for our private French Quarter History Tour, and to visit her burial tomb, join us for the St Louis Cemetery #1 Tour. Our private tours are the perfect opportunity for you and a small group of family or friends to tour the French Quarter and learn insider secrets with your own private guide. Call us at 504-507-8333 or email us to book!

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Norma Wallace - A New Orleans Madam

By Royal Tours New Orleans • July 25, 2023

N orma Wallace, a name that evokes intrigue and fascination, was a prominent figure in New Orleans during the early and mid-20th century. As a powerful and resourceful madam, she operated a network of brothels that thrived despite the constant threat of law enforcement. Beginning in 1920, she would operate brothels for the next 45 years, a span that has not been beaten in the history of New Orleans.